Milk-bottle crate



Filed May 17, 1929 W W- V 2 i 5 I I! 11 1/ 1| liml I, z i 3 6 7 I IN V EN TOR. @557? 7' 0/7? war/ Patented Apr. 7, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

ROBERT CARNWA'IH, F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR- TO PENN SYL- VANIA BOX & LUMBER 00., INCL, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORA- TION OF PENNSYLVANIA MILK-BOTTLE CRATE Application filed May 17, 1929. Serial No. 363,801.

This invention relates to crates for holding bottles, usually milk and cream bottles, and it has more especial relation to the provision of a stiffening strip at the box bottom.

The leading object of the present invention may be said to reside in the provision of a metal strip which has stamped out therefrom a plurality of pairs of spaced guides so arranged that when the strip is secured across the width of the box the supporting wires are'flush with the upper surface of the strip, thereby to provide a good, flat surface upon which the bottles can be supported.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a strip of the character stated the pairs of spaced guides of which are projected downwardly, thus leaving between the guides a flat surface with a depressed surface upon each side of said flat surface as formed by said guides.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a structure of this character drawings forming part hereof, and in which:

Fig. 1, is a view in plan of the underside of a portion of a metal crate.

Fig. 2, is a view in cross section taken upon the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3, is a view in perspective of the stiff? ening strip.

For the purpose of illustrating my invention I have shown in the accompanying drawings one form thereof which is at present preferred by me, since the same has been found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, although it is to be understood that the various inst-rumentalities of which my invention consists can be variously arranged and organized and that my invention is not limited to the precise arrangement and organization of the instrumentalities as herein shown and described.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the reference numeral 1 designates a strip of metal which is thin and elongated and has stamped out therefrom pairs of spaced, depending lugs 2. These lugs are arranged in pairs with a strip of the metal left remaining between the lugs. These lugs depend from the underside of the strip 1 and are formed upon arcs of circles. These lugs 2 form supports for wires which form the bottom of the crate, and for the wires passing through the openings 4 so that the wires will be substantially flush with the top of the strip 1 for a purpose presently to appear. Each end of the strip 1 is provided with an aperture 5.

In use the stiffening strip 1 is generally extended across the center of the crate later ally thereof and nailed or otherwise secured as at 6 to the sides 7 of the crate. The wires 8 which extend longitudinally of the crate are then passed through the openings 4: previously described and fitted to the ends9 of the crate. The usual cross wires 10 and 11 are then fitted tothe crate to provide spaces for the bottles 12. By this arrangement and construction of parts milk bottles may be caused to rest upon the relatively fiat upper surface of the stiffening plate 1 because the wires 8 come below the surface of the connecting strips 3. This fiat surface serves to prevent chipping of the milk bottles as frequently occurs when there are projections extending up into the crate. In this case by referring to the bottom part of Fig. 2 it will be noted that the depending lugs 2 leave a flat surface entirely across the plate.

What I claim is:

In a bottle crate, a fixed, thin, elongated,

fiat metal stiffening strip of the same crosssection throughout its length having a broad flat upper surface extended laterally across the crate bottom, said strip having struck out from the lower face of said broad flat top juxtaposed pairs of spaced arcuate depending lugs there being a narrow flat web between adjacent pairs of pendant lugs, each web being a continuation of said fiat top strip and arranged in the same horizontal plane therewith, said pendant lugs having a generally curved under surface to form U-shaped channels extending cross-Wise of said fiat strip, said Web, however, being fiat upon its top and flush with the strip upper flat surface, Wires in pairs passing cross-Wise of the said flat strip and through said pendant lugs so as to abut against the flat under surface of said Web and thus lie in a plane below and abut upon the face of said flat top strip, and other wires for the crate arranged in difierent planes above said fiat stri 3.

1 ROBERT OARNWATH. 

